A thick crimson carpet muffles our steps, and crystal chandeliers hang low, dripping light across the marble floors.
We climb a winding staircase, the kind you only see in movies about billionaires or…powerful men who demand respect. The railing is dark mahogany, carved with swirling designs, polished to a shine that reflects the low glow of the lamps. I can’t help stealing glances at the estate around me—the scale of it is overwhelming. Every corner whispers wealth, control, and danger.
The guard doesn’t speak. I don’t speak. I follow, my senses alert to everything.
At the top, we walk down another hall. Rich tapestries line the walls, and the air smells faintly of sandalwood. He stops in front of a door, pulls out a key, and unlocks it. He steps aside, silently motioning for me to enter.
As soon as I cross the threshold, I hear the click of the lock behind me.
My chest tightens.
The door is closed, sealed.
I’m alone.
This is the beginning of the end of my freedom.
Chapter 4 – Niko
I step out of the interrogation room, Demyan trailing a half-step behind me. The air feels heavier now, thick with the tension I’ve left behind in that room. The office is dimly lit, and Adrian and Kaz are bent over a low conversation.
They look up as I enter, eyes sharpening immediately.
“Well?” Kaz asks, one brow quirked.
I pause, letting the silence hang for a heartbeat longer than necessary. Then I speak, my voice clipped. “The wedding is happening.”
They exchange amused glances, and I ignore them, turning to Demyan. “Arrange for a selection of wedding dresses. Make sure the church is ready. A proper priest. Tomorrow. Leave nothing to chance.”
Demyan nods silently, his expression unreadable.
Internally, my mind races. This isn’t just about protection, isn’t just about the Rusnak code. Noelle—ogonek—has already claimed a thread of my attention, and every instinct in my body warns me to be cautious. She’s fire, unpredictable, and reckless. She challenges me in ways that stir something primal I’ve spent years keeping buried. But I’m Niko Volkov-Rusnak. I’m control incarnate. Desire doesn’t dictate my decisions—yet sometimes it creeps in, slow, insidious, pressing against that control.
I consider the rules, the codes, the precedent. An employee cannot simply marry the Pakhan, even for protection. It’s…unconventional. Risky. A thread of gossip, an opening for enemies, a chance for chaos. But the alternative—letting her wander too freely—is unthinkable. Anton is dangerous. Anton’s shadow still lingers. She’s the one link to him, and I won’t let that escape my sight.
And yet…there’s the fire in her eyes, that defiance, the way she doesn’t flinch in my presence. That defiance is dangerous, intoxicating. It presses against the cold, deliberate calm I cultivate in every other aspect of my life.
Tomorrow, she will become my bride. On paper, under the code, within the Bratva. And yet, I can feel the tension already building—the friction between duty and desire, control and temptation, ownership and something…unnamable.
“Wedding dresses?” Adrian’s voice drags me from my thoughts. There’s amusement dancing in his eyes. “A church? A priest? You’re turning this into a real wedding.”
Kaz nudges Adrian with a sly smirk. “It’s obviously the girl’s idea,” he says. “Niko couldn’t have made these decisions by himself.”
Adrian raises his brows, silently asking me if that’s true.
I nod once, coldly, deliberately. “It was.”
The room goes quiet for a moment, the weight of that statement hanging between us. I can feel their curiosity, their unspoken questions, but none of it matters. I turn back toward the window, letting the city lights spill across the room, the hum of Chicago far below nothing compared to the storm that has just entered my life.
I turn back to Demyan, my tone clipped but precise. “Locate Sasha Marino and bring her here. Noelle wants her at the ceremony. Go now.”
Demyan slips out of the office.
Kaz frowns. “Who’s that?”
“Noelle’s roommate,” I say, eyes fixed on the city lights beyond the window. Then I add, almost casually, “She would also like your wife to attend.”
For a moment, Kaz is confused. He frowns. “Wait…Noelle? You mean the Noelle you’ve arrested…Violet’s best friend, Noelle?”
